


Middle of Nowhere

by Vanyel



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, McCree being Thick, Overwatch - Freeform, Songfic, also as usual, also dammit mccree be easier to write, as usual, though my first for overwatch so cool i guess, van still sucks at accents lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanyel/pseuds/Vanyel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things aren't as clear as McCree would like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Middle of Nowhere

It was a surprisingly cool evening in Dorado, an unexpected layer of fog settling over the valley and blocking out the setting sun. The base was grateful for the reprieve from the pounding heat that normally marked their time in this desert. Many people filed out of the base after the post-battle meeting, setting up somewhere outside to enjoy the temporary freedom. The buildings may have been air conditioned, but after so many weeks they were starting to feel a little cramped. They all needed this break.

McCree had brought a beach chair up to the roof of the barracks, looking out over the battlefield. A little fresh air wouldn’t kill him, especially fresh air under ninety degrees. Just because he was used to the heat didn’t mean he preferred it (unlike the Australians, who were currently curled in a room together, with the small one complaining about it being fucking freezing outside). He nursed a chilled bottle of root beer and watch a group of his teammates on a roof below enjoying a rousing game of soccer. A soft chuckle. Glad the people around here knew the good a little fun could do a team. McCree considered joining them, but his leg had started aching a bit during that last fight, and he was content to simply sit up here, feeling the dying rays of sun on his skin.

“All right, let’s break it _down!_ ” Looking over the makeshift field, McCree swore he could see the brilliant white of Lucio’s broad smile shining from the goal even from this distance. A soft sigh slipped from the cowboy’s lips. The perky young pop star always rushed around him, like a whirlwind of the youth he’d never really had. He didn’t know what to think of him-half the time the kid’s actions just left him confused. A memory flitted through his head.

* * *

**“Ey, vaqueiro, mind sharing the shade?” Before McCree even processed the question, he felt his hat swept from his head. Turning, he saw Lucio’s cheerful grin sticking out from underneath the brim of McCree’s hat. The young man laughed softly as it flopped over his eyes. “Man, you got a big head! Bet that’d surprise some people, ey?”**

**McCree finally managed to close his opened mouth and move, swiping the kid and missing as Lucio skated backwards, just out of his reach. “Alright, very funny partner,” he chuckled, hands falling to his hips like Soldier 76’s did when he was mad. He couldn’t help but smile. “But that’s my hat, an’ I’d like it back, if ya don’t mind.”**

**Lucio lifted the brim, eyes glinting with mischief. “I dunno, man,” he hummed, turning the hat around and tilting it over his dreads so he could see, “it’s pretty comfy, and I think it looks better on me. I might wanna keep it.” He circled effortlessly around McCree, looking him over and whistling softly. “And it means I can actually see your scruffy old face for once, so bonus points there.”**

**“Oh you little-give it!” McCree lunged for him, stumbling as Lucio reversed out of his path and laughed, barely catching himself. He turned to look at him, trying to glare and failing. He couldn’t be mad at a smile like that. He couldn’t do anything but smile back at it. Huffing, McCree stood back up, shaking his head. “If this ‘scruffy ol’ face’ gets sunburned, I’m blaming you, boy.”**

**Grinning, Lucio spun his way around McCree one more time, grabbing his shoulder to come to a stop right in front of him, the tip of McCree’s hat brushing against his chest. He looked up, grinning, and lifted the hat from his head, placing it back on its owner’s head with a deft touch. “All right, all right, vaqueiro,” he chuckled, “here you go.”**

**They stayed like that for just a moment, McCree’s wide eyes looking down at Lucio’s gentle ones, Lucio’s hand resting on his arm, McCree’s own hands frozen just off Lucio’s hips. He blinked, swallowed, tried to think of something to say. He had to say something. Think of something to-**

**Lucio laughed and looked away, pulling the brim of McCree’s hat down over his eyes before spinning in place, laughing again as he skated away. “See you later, amigo!” McCree managed to raise it again just in time to see that slim form disappearing around the corner. He sighed, turning around and walking towards his own room and trying to figure out why his cheeks felt warm.**

* * *

What did the kid want with him? What was his game? McCree sat up, one hand letting the bottle dangle between his legs as he looked over the far roof, watching the bouncing brown dreads fly back and forth in amongst the mass of people. Lucio had so much energy, like he never stopped moving. He moved fast, talked fast, laughed fast, smiled fast-everyone from the old guard was bowled over every time the kid was close. And he seemed to skate right past anything serious, coming out with that same brilliant smile.

McCree was a blunt man. Some would say “direct”, some would say “tactless”, and many might say “as unsubtle as a fucking freight train”, but he preferred blunt. He said what he thought, when he could put it to words, and was very clear in how he felt. He’d found that being blunt often brought the bluntness out in other people, if only for a heartbeat, and he’d learned the little ways to read what someone was actually feeling.

Except Lucio. McCree had no idea how the kid felt about him.

McCree heard the clear bell of Lucio’s laughter ringing across the space-or maybe he was just imagining it- and let his eyes follow the audiomedic as he clapped D Va on the shoulder, talking about something from the game and smiling at her.

The smile. Was it the same one he gave to McCree? Was that just the smile for his friends? Was Lucio just that friendly with everyone?

* * *

**The explosions rocked the field, and McCree dove for the first cover he could see, rolling through the hole in the wall and grunting in pain as a grenade detonated right by his retreating leg. He flattened himself against the wall, panting and flicking his eyes around the room for enemies-**

**Lucio. A small sigh of relief. “Heya partner,” McCree said, watching the audiomedic turn towards him. “Little help?” He waved Peacemaker towards his leg, which looked a little more like a bad day at the butcher’s.**

**Nodding, Lucio flicked on his music, letting the waves wash over McCree’s leg and slowly knit flesh back to bone in the right configuration. He moved closer, flicking off his visor and kneeling in front of McCree. “You need to keep up, old man,” Lucio smirked. “That one nearly took it off, and then it’d take a little more than a few beats from this number to put it back on!”**

**“I’ll keep that in mind,” McCree chuckled, sitting up straighter as the ache began to fade, flexing his toes and testing the range of motion. “Ya know-”**

**And Lucio grabbed him by the collar, yanking him back in a surprising burst of strength and falling backwards with him. “Watch out!”**

**A bullet whizzed through the air, slamming into the wall right where McCree had been sitting. A perfect shot, right between the eyes. Or it would have been. McCree lay low on top of Lucio, scanning the horizon for the sniper. “Damn! Thanks, partner,” he hissed in a thankful whisper, spotting the lone figure standing on a roof, aiming through a hole in the rubble. Who screamed and flew to the side as a mighty hammer slammed into them**

**Lucio smiled that enigmatic smile, pushing McCree off himself to the side and backflipping back to his feet before tugging the cowboy up and against him. “No problem, man. That’s what we’re here for, watching each other’s backs, right?” He tossed his dreads over his shoulder, playing with the end of one idly.**

**Smiling back, McCree opened his mouth to say something back-**

**And was met with a sudden blast of music that had his heartbeat doubling. Lucio pushed him back, flicking his visor back on and saluting with his sonic gun. “Keep up if you can, old man!” McCree watched him leave before shaking his head, righting his hat and running after him.**

* * *

“Ey, vaquiero, why you all alone up here?”

McCree nearly jumped out of the chair, not realizing he’d been drifting again until Lucio’s voice cut through the memory. He turned, praying the light and his hat hid the flush in his cheeks as he saw the kid standing there, head tilted to the side with his pretty brown hair falling over one shoulder, smiling that same, impossible-to-understand smile. “L-lucio! I...I didn’t hear...weren’t ya in the game just now?”

Lucio laughed, making McCree’s heart skip a beat, and shook his head. “Nah, man, game’s been over for like ten minutes now. Where you been in that head of yours?” He skated close and sat gracefully behind the cowboy, half-leaning on his shoulder and chuckling.

McCree swallowed thickly, flicking his eyes away carefully. “...The middle of nowhere.”

A raised eyebrow. “Well, then you’ve been right here, amigo,” Lucio grinned, gesturing at the seemingly endless desert surrounding the battlefield. “Dorado, coordinates: middle of nowhere!”

“No, I...I mean...” McCree sighed, shifting a bit to more directly face Lucio and finally meeting his eyes. “That’s...that’s where I am with ya. Or, where it feels like.”

Lucio blinked. “What are you talking about, amigo?”

He sat up a little straighter, took a deep breath, swept his hat off his head and laid it on his heart. Breathe.

“Lucio, I got no idea how you feel about me. Trying ta figure out what you think of me is like trying ta navigate a town I ain’t ever been in before with no map-I’m lost, honestly. Every time I think I got a bead on what you’re thinking, ya go an’ do something to get me all mixed-up again. I’m lost, out in th’middle of nowhere, when it comes to you. An’ maybe it wouldn’ be so bad, maybe I could learn ta live with it, but...”

McCree sighed, eyes dropping to his lap. “But I do know how  _ I _ feel bout  _ you _ , an’ that’s what makes this hard. I know I like ya more than just a friend, but if you don’ feel the same then I don’ wanna be going round making things more awkward than they already are. If I just knew how you felt, Lucio, one way or the other I could-”

And then he couldn’t say any more.

Because a set of warm brown lips had covered his own, pressing them into stunned silence for three heartbeats that felt like a lifetime. A soft hum slipped from them as Lucio pulled back, smiling softly at McCree’s poleaxed expression. He laid one hand over McCree’s on his hat, chuckling gently. “Blunt enough for you, Jesse?”

McCree stared for a moment. He felt like his heart was playing that speed song Lucio always used. Then he grabbed Lucio, cupping his head pulling him back in for another kiss as the kid chuckled, wrapping arms around his neck and kissing him as the last fog-diffused rays of sunlight faded from the sky. They stayed like that for a good minute before he finally pulled back. Lucio smiled at him the same way he always had, but to McCree, it meant so much more now.

McCree reached between them, pulling his hat out and setting it on Lucio’s head, tilting it back onto his dreads and humming. “Ya know, I think you’re right,” he said with a small grin. “It does look better on you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Dustin Lynch's "Middle of Nowhere", heard at least once a day at my place of work (thanks to whoever made the playlist for our store) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Mq7zyoXuZ4


End file.
